Coronavirus | “It’s like saving the people from the Titanic,” said the pilot of the last repatriation flight.

The pilot of Aerolineas Argentinas, Gustavo Giménez, who will be in charge of one of the last flights authorized by the Government to bring Argentines stranded abroad in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, compared the task they carry out from the flag carrier with the rescue of the passengers of the Titanic.

“What we are experiencing is maddening. It is like uploading people from the Titanic to save them, I do not stop receiving calls asking that they please bring people stranded abroad, “said Giménez in an interview with Clarion.

The man is the commander of the Airbus 330 that will return to the country this Friday with 250 passengers. “We are doing everything the Foreign Ministry asks us, who are the ones who make the lists with which they must get on the plane, “he explained.

10 days ago, Giménez had to fly to Miami on another repatriation flight, and he gave details of what the organization is like: “By law we have to sleep after each flight. In that period they corresponded between 18 and 20 hours. Normally we spend the night in a hotel, like obviously we couldn’t go down to rest in a pandemic area, we had to sleep on the plane and the return flight was made by the extra crew we traveled with. It was an exceptional authorization from the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC). “

Of this particular trip, he recalled the gratitude received by the crew from the Argentines: “We had no contact with anyone, but there were passengers who were crying, others who bowed to us. Tears fell. I don’t consider this to be heroicThis is a health disaster and we are all in it. “

About the measures they take at the time when people should board, the commander said that everyone takes their temperature. And he clarified: “This It does not mean that if they have a fever they will not board, that is very important that they know it ”.

And he clarified: “This It does not mean that if they have a fever they will not board, that is very important that they know it ”. Lastly, he specified that in the event of such a situation, they will take “measures so that they can travel in isolation inside the plane.”

What will happen to the Argentines who cannot return

The Government formed this Friday an inter-ministerial working table destined to assist Argentines who were stranded abroad after the closure of international borders, ports, airports and crossings. It is a joint work of the Chancellery and the Ministries of the Interior, Transport, Security and Health, which will study “case by case” for a “safe” return.

The closure of the borders and the suspension of repatriation flights were decided after evaluating “the risk that represents the entrance of Argentines from countries with high circulation of Covid-19, since they have a high possibility of carrying the virus and become a trigger for the contagion curve, “said the Presidency.

In this situation, the “inter-ministerial table will analyze case by case the assistance, permanence and return of Argentine citizens who are still abroad and want to return.”

The Chancellery and the Ministry of the Interior, through Migrations, put together a registry of people in situations of health risk, who will be given priority in eventual special humanitarian flights. In this way, they plan gradually and safely the return of Argentine citizens through all its border crossings.